Album Review

Bursting with island grooves, passionate vocals, and tasteful instrumentation, In Between Now and Then is the musical equivalent of every friendly hippie you've ever met. It's accommodating and full of entertaining stories, and will get even the sourest of pusses on the dancefloor. Released just in time for summer break, the LP is such a rousing, good-timing affair, it might as well open the fridge and grab a beer for you. This is exactly the kind of musical hospitality O.A.R. has been providing since it first emerged on the college jam band scene in the late '90s. Building a reputation through energetic live gigs and a strong Internet file-sharing presence, the band finally opted for a jump to the big leagues, no doubt encouraged by the success of rootsy types like John Mayer. But unlike Mayer, who too often suggests a younger Dave Matthews, O.A.R. — Marc Roberge (vocals/guitar), Jerry DePizzo (saxophone), Richard On (guitar), Chris Culos (drums), and Benj Gershman (bass) — is more akin to the uplifting folk-pop of Guster or David Gray, albeit with a substantial debt to Bob Marley. Helmed by longtime O.A.R. collaborator John Alagía, In Between Now and Then wisely stays close to what the band does best, and doesn't worry about trying to impress new listeners with bells and whistles. Instead, it's sort of like an invitation for the rest of the world to join the party O.A.R. has been playing for its fans all these years. From the insistent reggae breeze of "Dareh Meyod" and irresistibly peppy "Risen" (sample lyric: "I never knew life could taste so good!") to the gentle jamming of ballad "James," In Between ambles through 13 tracks with the comfort and ease of a countryside bike ride. O.A.R. veterans will recognize first single "Hey Girl" as a holdover from the band's early days; it appears here in re-recorded form. Elsewhere, the band dabbles in free jamming ("Anyway," "Whose Chariot?"), but never does so in such an obtuse way as to alienate the casual backyard fan. In Between Now and Then is sure to have O.A.R.'s old fans — of which there are many — playing Frisbee with its soon-to-be-numerous new ones.

Customer Reviews

Come back to this

by
HoldinOn

By far their best album, and hopefully after all the fan reviews of All Sides the band will listen to it a few times before the next album comes out!

First Review

by
Carrot-Top18

Yay! First Review! Anyway...
While this album is not completely original, it is a very good album and there are parts of this album that are unique. If you like the following artists you will most likely like this album: Dave Matthews Band, the Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind, Eightfeet

This is OAR's sound fully matured!

by
comeoriginal

If you listen to the older albums you understand their sound, but they sound raw and unrefined. This has a lot of the old songs redone and they sound amazing this time around! I never get sick of listening to this album! Turn it up!

Biography

Formed: 1996 in Rockville, MD

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

O.A.R. (an acronym for the band's full moniker, Of a Revolution) transformed itself from an independent college band to a Billboard chart-topper over the course of a long, varied career. First, two of the band's demo recordings were hawked on university campuses. Then, news spread about the band's roots rock and reggae-inflected songs, which owed much to the jam band genre. Before long, O.A.R.'s website had turned into a highly trafficked Internet destination, and the group gradually left the college...